Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin reshuffled his cabinet on Sunday with high-profile DMK leader Senthil Balaji, who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case, taking oath as a minister.
Three other DMK MLAs—R. Rajendran (Salem-North), Govi Chezhiaan (Thiruvidaimarudur) and S.M. Nasar (Avadi)—also took oath as ministers. Governor R.N. Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy at a simple ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan.
The cabinet rejig also assumes significance as it marked the elevation of Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin as the deputy chief minister.
Balaji has been allotted the Electricity and Non-conventional Energy Development along with Prohibition and Exercise. Govi Chezhiaan will look after Higher Education, including Technical Education, Electronics, and Science and Development.
Nazar will be in charge of Minorities Welfare, non-resident Tamil Welfare, Refugees and Evacuees, and Wakf Board. Rajendran has been given the portfolios of Tourism and Sugar, Sugarcane Excise and Sugarcane Development.
Udhayanidhi’s promotion is with an eye on the 2026 assembly elections in which the the DMK is keen to retain power. Several party leaders and workers have already been billing Udhayanidhi as a possible CM in the future, succeeding his father.
The 46-year-old DMK youth wing chief, who has produced and distributed a number of Tamil films, is currently the sports minister.
Balaji, meanwhile, was in jail for over 15 months in connection with a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. He was the Minister for Electricity and also held the Excise and Prohibition portfolio before he quit the cabinet following his arrest on June 14, 2023.